Why Ned Kelly?
There were two reasons. The first one to do with being in NYC and going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see an exhibition of Sidney Nolan’s painting, which I first did in the 60s in Melbourne. I was apprehensive that they wouldn’t be as good as I remembered them, but they were even better. I was explaining the Kelly story to NY friends, and as I did this I was reminded of how amazing a story this was and how good a novel it would make. At the same time I had in my mind the Jerilderie letter which I typed up and carried around with me. I thought I’d write in that voice, but also I think that the other thing about the Kelly story is that we all think we know it, that we know the story and know the man, but how much of it is unimagined? This was an intriguing thing to come to grips with. Kelly’s relationship with his mother, which I confirmed from a later reading, was central to the drama in this book. We haven’t done much of imagining of the mother-son relationship. Which mirrors th
